<p>Alachua County public schools won't see much change this year in the number of teacher retirements or new hires.</p><p>"They're pretty much on target," said Beverly Finley, a supervisor in the school district's human resources department.</p><p>Sixty teachers have retired since school ended in the first week of June, she said.</p><p>Of the 106 teachers who were hired last year on one-year contracts, 57 have been renewed.</p><p>Non-renewals are usually because of certification issues, Finley said.</p><p>So far this summer, the district has made 145 new hires. The hiring process is ongoing.</p><p>Alachua County Public Schools didn't lay off any teachers this year, unlike its neighbor to the south.</p><p>In May, the Marion County school district laid off 261 employees, including all 160 of its first-year teachers, according to the Ocala Star-Banner.</p><p>The massive cuts were made to close a $29 million funding gap for the coming school year.</p><p>About half of the first-year teachers were given their jobs back this month, filling positions left by teachers who retired or resigned.</p><p>Many of the laid-off teachers sought teaching jobs in Alachua County, said Will Calsam, district supervisor of human resources.</p><p>Several of them were hired, Calsam said, but a handful of them went back to Marion County when their jobs were reinstated.</p><p>Alachua County schools are still working to fill all of their open teaching positions, he said.</p><p>Katie Howard, a Gainesville native who graduated from Florida State University's education program in May, accepted a job with Alachua County Public Schools in early June.</p><p>She applied to several schools in the district but didn't look outside the county.</p><p>"I knew this would probably be home forever," she said.</p><p>Like all first-year teachers in Alachua County, Howard was hired on a one-year renewable contract. In August, she starts as a third-grade teacher at Terwilliger Elementary School.</p><p>Howard said she's excited to meet her students, spark their curiosity and motivate them to learn.</p><p>"I'm just excited to touch lives," she said.</p><p><i>Contact Erin Jester at 338-3166 or erin.jester@gainesville.com.</i></p>